FTP Hour Trainer Test Done, Post-Ride Pacing Questions



Just a real basic calculation based on gravity and ignoring wind resistance etc.

1.5 / (60 + 10) * 17.5 = 0.375 minutes - > 22.5 seconds
 
Hill Climb TT Done!

After spending yesteday looking through analyticalcyclist and a couple of other speed/power measurement sites, my plan was to hold 285W (106% of my FTP) up the climb, which would theoretically give me 16:55. My aim was to go sub-17mins which I had never done before. My previous attempts were a 17:50 (last year's TT up the climb sans powermeter) and a 17:30 (Done at 275W Ave. about 3 months ago)
Headed to the start line and noticed that the handicapper had put me in B Grade (~Cat 2/3) when I normally ride in D Grade (Cat 4). Thought it must be a mistake but turned out my previous wins meant that I was bumped up. With that went any chance of me placing, but I was still determined to do a PB.

At exactly 9:41, I was off! About a minute in, i looked down at my powermeter and was horrified to see an average power of 360W (inc. the initial sprint). I knew I was in trouble of blowing up if I didn't slow down immediately. I made a note to ease off a little and 30s later I looked down to see I was still riding at 300W and my ave. was 320W. That was when I made the decision to pay attention to how I was feeling as opposed to intentionally slowing down to get my ave. power in the 'pre-determined' zone. Got through the next couple of kms okay, and at the half-way point I had an ave. watt of 305W. With about 2 kms to go, I started to think that I may have gone out too fast, but the memory of all those FTP intervals done, pushed me on. I knew I was really starting to hurt and thought that my power would drop dramatically, given my overly ambitious start. At 1km to go, I took a peek down and saw 300W as the ave. power, which was a huge surprise and this really spurred me on. Got out of the saddle in the last 200m and gave everything I had to end up with a 300W (5 kg/watt) ave. Stoked to see I had come in at 16:20 which was a 1 minute PB.

At the end of the race, I looked at the results and saw I had come about mid-pack in B Grade which was a nice surprise. The winner of B Grade rode the course in 15:30, but he had the full TT gear (TT bike, TT helmet, deep wheels, skin-suit, aero shoe covers), so I wasn't too discouraged. I rode with the standard jersey + bib-shorts, road bike, road helmet, shallow wheels.
Although, I'm not sure I would have made up too much time had I been in the full TT gear seeing as how the ave. was only 25 km/hr.

In better news, the power meter showed me that I am definitely stronger since I first got my power meter 3 months ago. My max. ave. power up this climb has increased from 275W (4.5 watt/kg) to 300W (5 watt/kg) in about 3 months. I look forward to seeing how much faster I can go up it next year when I have a full season of training with a power meter.
 
Cool. Well done. No surprise that you went out harder than you planned. The surprise is that you didn't pay the price later. It may be that your MMP test data was obtained when you had some residual training fatigue and that on the day of the race you were fully rested. That could definitely account for the discrepancy between what you thought was your max sustainable power for the expected duration and what you were able to do. As to your speed, a full TT bike with a disc wheel on back and deep dish wheel on front (e.g., 60mm) would definitely make a difference. The difference is about 5% on the flat, probably about half that for your course due to the lower speed. But, the real news is the payoff your training is having. That must be satisfying.
 
I just read this thread and am impressed with the improvement. Nice Job! It'll be fun to read about your future improvement as well. My guess is that you'll quit the tri stuff and focus on roadracing...'cause it's more fun! one thing I noticed about your first cat 4 race(first off: Congrats!), we're not allowed to hook up with riders from other classes, so staying away would have been harder. California usac racing will DQ you for doing that, which is painful when you're stuck with a bunch of guys from other classes knowing you can't help each other. You played it well given the rules where you race...Nice!
 
Originally Posted by Mark 86 .

I just read this thread and am impressed with the improvement. Nice Job! It'll be fun to read about your future improvement as well. My guess is that you'll quit the tri stuff and focus on roadracing...'cause it's more fun! one thing I noticed about your first cat 4 race(first off: Congrats!), we're not allowed to hook up with riders from other classes, so staying away would have been harder. California usac racing will DQ you for doing that, which is painful when you're stuck with a bunch of guys from other classes knowing you can't help each other. You played it well given the rules where you race...Nice!
Riding with the J17 riders should have been fine as they all started together as a bunch. Teaming up with the dropped B & C grade riders was a big no no and he is fortunate that he got away with it.
 
Been a while since I last posted here.



Finished my first-year medical exams a few days ago so I've just been getting back into a training.
I've got a triathlon race in a few weeks so will start preparing for that.
Currently doing 3 rides (1 trainer session + 2 longer rides), 3 swims and 2 runs a week.
Unfortunately, I doubt I will be able to do enough volume/intensity on the bike to be able to improve my FTP during the racing season.
My weekly trainer session still consists of 2 x 20 mins @ ~95% FTP though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cheetahmk7 .


Riding with the J17 riders should have been fine as they all started together as a bunch. Teaming up with the dropped B & C grade riders was a big no no and he is fortunate that he got away with it.


I know in our criteriums teaming up with riders from other grade is definitely not on. However in road races, there is no rule . There were a lot of riders who took advantage of dropped riders from different bunches and the race organisers/other riders were definitely aware of it and approved of it.


Btw for those interested, I've started a blog. It will most likely be training post and race reports on bike racing and triathlon races, as well as general posts about life as a medical university. Might even entice some cyclists to take up the sport of triathlons. Check it out here: http://willtruong.blogspot.com.au
 
Quote: 3.8.05 A rider who holds on to or receives pace from a moving vehicle or receives any other outside assistance may be disqualified.

It always amazes me how many medicos ride. All but two of the Australian trained doctors at my wife's medical practice are cyclists or triathletes.
 
Originally Posted by cheetahmk7 .

It always amazes me how many medicos ride. All but two of the Australian trained doctors at my wife's medical practice are cyclists or triathletes.
Wow, that's quite surprising. Currently, there isn't many in my medical degree that are into triathlons/cycling. Although this is only first year so plenty of time for them to take up this sport.
 
Been a while since I last updated here.

Signed up for the 7 Peaks Challenge which involves riding up 7 mountains in Victoria and getting a passport stamped at the top of each mountain.
Spent the last month trying to get through the 7- A lot of fun spending a weekend away with friends in rural Victoria cycling and seeing some breath-taking views.

Completed Mt. Baw Baw just last week which is supposedly ranked the 2nd-hardest climb in the world. It's 12.5km @ 7.7% but the last 6.5km @ 11.5%.
Good thing I had a 28 at the back!

Finally got back to some FTP intervals this weekend after the summer break. Achieved 262W & 271W for my 2 20' intervals today which is a 10W improvement from before Christmas.


Also, have kept my weight at 60Kg so my W/Kg is slowly improving.